“Thank you, City Lord, thank you,” the Minister of Personnel repeatedly expressed his gratitude, wiping the sweat from his forehead, finally feeling some relief.
Many of those His Majesty wanted to punish were his relatives. Strictly speaking, he should have been implicated. Being able to seek leniency was the best outcome.
Several other officials were watching from afar. Seeing that Ming Yi was quite amiable and easy to talk to, they also approached.
“His Majesty wants to subject the assassin to the five horses tearing punishment. It’s too cruel and might damage his reputation. Could the City Lord persuade him otherwise?”
Ming Yi shook her head, “His Majesty doesn’t care about reputation, and I don’t want to say much. Let’s consider it a deterrent.”
“The city patrol guards have been implicated and collectively fined three months’ salary. This…”
“Fining salaries for too long can easily breed resentment. Why not change it to caning, ten strokes per person? That should teach them a lesson,” Ming Yi suggested.
Everyone nodded repeatedly. Although they had some complaints about her disregard for His Majesty’s reputation, they also realized that Ming Yi wasn’t easy to persuade on everything. This young woman had her ideas.
So later on, only when Ji Bozai was truly excessive would the officials approach Ming Yi to intervene.
When the court session began, Ji Bozai first smiled and promoted a group of young talents to high positions, causing an uproar in the court. Some debated their lack of qualifications, while others praised the Emperor’s open-mindedness.
At the height of the arguments, Ji Bozai summoned those young women to the court.
The women, dressed in official robes no different from the court officials, entered the hall and immediately reported to Ji Bozai about the tasks they were about to undertake and those they had completed, leaving the officials stunned.
Then, led by Song Lanzhi, three widowed women began to accuse some corrupt officials in the court of embezzlement and murder. A total of five officials were implicated, with irrefutable evidence.
Ji Bozai immediately ordered those five to be dragged away and then bestowed official positions on the women.
Now the officials who had been arguing earlier no longer opposed young people holding high positions, but all protested against women entering the court, especially three widows. What did they think the imperial court was?
An elderly official took off his official hat and clamored about dying to remonstrate.
Ji Bozai, sitting on the high seat, raised his hand, and that elderly official was lifted high into the air, and then released to fall to the ground. With a loud thud, he didn’t die from the fall but broke his leg, crying out in pain and screaming for help.
The sound echoed through the court and reverberated through half the palace.
This action was equivalent to announcing to the whole world that Ji Bozai was indeed a tyrant who didn’t listen to remonstrations.
For a moment, the court fell silent.
“Ministers must handle affairs for the monarch and share his worries, not to run wild on my head,” Ji Bozai said in a leisurely tone. “If this world were as you say with your mouths, I would accept it. But these Six Cities were personally conquered by me, one by one, and you were all pushed to me from each city, insisting that I accept and employ you. I owe you nothing, and it’s not your place to teach me how to be an emperor.”
Each word fell heavily, and the court was dead silent.
“I just want both men and women to be able to take the imperial examinations and enter the Yuan Shi Academy. As long as young people do their jobs well, they can hold high positions. Who I promote doesn’t need your recommendations. I have eyes and ears; I can see and hear for myself.”
“I don’t levy heavy taxes or oppress the people, but for you all, once I feel you’re unworthy of your positions, I don’t care about your background or status. Today you may sit in high halls, tomorrow you could be prisoners. If you’re not convinced, come and take my life.”
Ming Yi glanced at him with slight concern.
Although he no longer needed to rely on powerful families, those people had deep roots. If they felt too threatened, they might harbor rebellious thoughts. Could he handle it?
However, when she looked at him, Ji Bozai’s eyes were full of excitement, as if eager to try, waiting for someone to make a move against him.
Ming Yi: “…”
She understood.
With the Six Cities unified and no wars to fight, the fighters from each city had weakened in their martial arts and Yuan Power after becoming city lords. He didn’t want to become a purely civil ruler, so he was finding things to do for himself.
He was truly a madman.
However, with military power in her hands, these powerful families couldn’t cause much trouble no matter what. Ming Yi looked back at the court.
He had granted everything she wanted to do, so she would also support what he wanted to do.
Many people couldn’t accept Ji Bozai’s words today. After the court session, over a dozen resignation letters flew into the Imperial Study, including some from truly worthy ministers.
Ji Bozai couldn’t be bothered to persuade them. He accepted them all and opened new imperial examinations to select new talents.
As a result, scholars from humble backgrounds became excited and signed up for the exams in droves. Even some wise men who had long retired to the mountains couldn’t resist coming to try.
The rumors of His Majesty favoring his relatives in appointments were dispelled without effort. Their Emperor preferred to use people without connections or backgrounds, who would only do their jobs and not form factions. As long as the job was done well, even if you were a street beggar today, you might wear the robes of a fifth-rank official tomorrow.
Young women were even happier. Every household began to value them. Those who previously only sent sons to private schools now sent both sons and daughters. When a baby girl with red veins was born, they would celebrate with gongs and drums to announce the good news to the neighbors.
Of course, after this, many powerful families harbored rebellious thoughts, secretly buying divine weapons and gathering troops, intending to overthrow Ji Bozai.
On one hand, Ming Yi happily sold them divine weapons at high prices through the black market, making a fortune. On the other hand, she led people with even higher-grade divine weapons to completely wipe them out, confiscating their properties.
Before Ji Bozai could even see the shadow of a rebel, Ming Yi came to report that everything had been taken care of.
His mouth twitched, “You didn’t leave even half a person for me?”
Counting the gold notes in her hand, Ming Yi thought for a moment, “The Liu family is also dissatisfied with you. They just bought a hundred top-grade divine weapons. I’ll leave them for you to deal with.”
Ji Bozai sprang up from the dragon throne, immediately asking Bu Xiu to bring the silver armor he had just made. The silver armor with red tassels looked extremely handsome. It didn’t provide much protection, but it was dazzling.
Sure enough, as soon as he put it on, Ming Yi’s eyes brightened.
Ji Bozai was overjoyed. He left the palace wearing the silver armor, striding proudly. However, in less than an hour, he returned with a look of disgust.
“What happened?” Ming Yi raised an eyebrow.
“Cowards. The Liu family didn’t even dare to fight me. They directly handed over those hundred divine weapons, saying they were offering them to strengthen the palace defenses.”
Ming Yi laughed, “So, all in all, I’ve earned another forty thousand taels of gold and got a hundred divine weapons for free?”
She did some calculations, “At this rate if two more families rebel, next year’s military expenses will be covered.”
Ji Bozai had spent many years in the slave camp and was unwilling to levy heavy taxes on ordinary people, so Ming Yi used the income from buying and selling divine weapons to supplement the military expenses. With a full treasury, Ji Bozai had the means to renovate various cities and establish more academies.
The two worked in perfect coordination, and the lives of the people in the Six Cities visibly improved at a rapid pace.